Apple OS X 10.10.4 Update Enables TRIM Support For Third-Party SSDs

Upgrading older Macs with third-party solid-state drives (SSDs) has always been an exasperating task, all because of the lesser degree of support for the TRIM command for these drives on Apple’s OS X platform. However, the story-line is to receive some amendments now, with Apple adding TRIM support for third party SSDs through its new OS X 10.10.4 update (via AppleInsider).

TRIM is a system-level command that allows the operating system and the drive to communicate and decide which blocks of data on drive are no longer considered in use and can be wiped internally. Simply put, it is an optimization method, which if absent, can slump your drive’s speed up to a great extent.

Although TRIM has been part of Windows since the release of Windows 7, Apple has continued to sway far away from providing any such support other than to its own OEM drives, until now.

Also, with today’s OS X 10.10.4 update, Apple has added a command line utility that can be used to enable TRIM on third-party SSDs without having to download and install anything. This tool force-enables TRIM for all relevant attached devices, even though they have not been validated for data integrity while using that functionality. To enable TRIM, you just have to type “sudo trimforce enable” into the Terminal window.

Enabling TRIM using this method does come with a warning from Apple, as it can cause issues on occasion and the company wants to make sure users are operating it at their own risk. Also, Apple’s OS X 10.10.4,comes with several bug fixes and improvements.